West Africa's Largest Postcard Collection Grows!

We moved to a new postcard wall! Our friends and family are so amazing that we are not only be able to decorate a part of our living room but have now moved on to what we’ll call our "solarium" (which is actually more of a sandarium). At least once a day we check them out. It is inspires us to see where you all travel. It cracks us up to see what ludicrous cards you can find. It makes us nostalgic to see where you all live. Most of all, it heartens us to know what amazing support we have.

There were some serious travelers in this batch and some great scenes from all over, on the homefront and beyond.

Our friend Kelly “Big Red” Huster from Jackson, Wyoming, touched on a little of both themes when she crossed the entire country and sent us a postcard from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her first time to Fenway Park was almost as exciting as a mention on our blog!

The Traveling Campbells continue their amazing string of journeys, checking in from sites as far a field as Tucson and Scotland. We are starting to wonder if they are ever at home.


Kelly Jones got all the way to South Africa for some safari stew before being sent back to america. She says that she is home in Colorado now but we are not sure, having no postcard-o-graphic evidence to confirm this fact.

We do know Steve Bory and Natalie Mette-Bory made it safely home to Chesapeake Bay. They also completed a swing through the southwest states, from which our postcard wall should benefit, insh’allah.

The "Ice Queen", Liz Becker, completed a lengthy trek herself. She checked in from Utah and Saugatuck, Michigan and Washington Crossing Historic Park in Pennsylvania on her way to the east coast after her eighteen-day float down the Grand Canyon. She sent us a postcard from the bottom of “the ditch” that was carried out partly by mule, a form of transport normally only occuring on the Malian end of things!

Our friends Nicole and Andrew Wallace sent one from far away but not quite from the road. They have moved to Orleans, France. The majestic chateaux seem a bit more appealing than the mud brick huts they had been accustomed to in Mali.


RPCV Emily Doerr is killing it on the postcard front, having checked in from Seattle and Portland, Oregon and from McMinnville, Tennessee on her way to the nation's capital where she sent a ridiculous card of the first family. We expect the cards to continue coming since, at last check, she didn’t have one of those pesky job things that might inhibit postcard writing.

PCV Therese Pasichnyk sent us one from Cadiz, Spain, where she traveled with her family. They apparently wanted to go as close to Africa as possible without actually stepping foot on the Dark Continent. You can practically see Morocco from there!

Casey and Matt Stratford got all the way to Iceland. This would normally be an impressive postcard except when compared to the other two absurd cards they sent out: Sam and Mark’s wedding and on the Jackson Hole Gondola with Sam and Mark. Awesome!

We even received a card all the way from Malaysia sent by a Choong Chee Yen, who is apparently making postcard wall as well. It is a small world!

Speaking of outlandish postcards, Kevin Coughlan has really hit his stride. He has been specializing in touristy Wyoming kitsch. From the stuffed bears asking that more tourists be sent because the last ones were delicious, to the bizarre owl claiming it misses us, to the legendary fur bearing (due to the extremely cold waters) trout and the elusive Jackalope, he has been nailing it.

Ben Carlisle sent Baroque Obama. Enough said.

Brian Hannon has recently been specializing in eccentric British cards with old ads for Brylcreem and a not so subtle claim from the MG car company that their vehicle will increase your chances with the ladies.

Brian’s friend Denis Moran lives in Santa Barbara and studies Africa as part of his reference publisher gig. Judging from the picture of the area, we suggest he continue working from afar, it is much nicer.

Ex-roomie Jon Scheibel continues his subtle pitch to get us to return to western Wyoming by sending cards from Jackson Hole and Yellowstone National Park.

Laura Cuddie and John Morgan reminded us of the beautiful scenery of the Teton Range. It is fun to show pictures like that to Malians, they are always blown away.

Back on the east coast, Jay and Jenni sent us one of their new hometown Media, Pennsylvania. This was less to show the beauty of their town and more so that Jay could point out his local coffee shop in the photo. The thought of a sandwich where the egg is not deep-fried and that has bacon and cheese on it is too much for us to fathom at this point. The Hannons went international too, kind of. Jay, Jenni and Frank sent one from Quebec City.

The Lavers have moved up to New Hampshire and sent a view of the Mt. Washington Valley. It reminds us of when we were able to see Mt. Washington from the dock at Sam’s family cottage on Lake Winnipesauke, a long time ago in galaxy far, far away where it is safe to touch the water.


Norma Crichton continues her come home to Bangor, Maine campaign with a card of the Thomas Hill Standpipe. Mark could still to this day ride a bike to his childhood home blindfolded from that particular landmark if the need arose.

Tom and Cathy Hannon sent a beautiful view of Scituate harbor in Massachusetts. It makes us want to see the ocean and eat fish from water which can be smelled miles away for its saltiness and not its raw sewage.

The same goes for Cousin Cindy’s card from Rye harbor, New Hampshire. Also, considering Rhode Island’s diminutive size, the large format postcard she sent from there gave us a chuckle. Mostly, though, it is her postcard of New England fall foliage that looks quite a bit like the farm road near Sam's house that makes us miss home.




Thanks everyone for your reminders of where we’ve been, where we're going and what we should put in our hair.









Kevin Coughlan summed it up nicely:

Posh Corps

Its official, we have transferred from Peace Corps to Posh Corps. Moving to Bamako a few months ago from Yelimané has been less like moving towns and more like changing of planets. While we certainly still have challenges in our daily lives, when compared to village life it feels like we are on vacation.

Get this: there are these switches on the walls of our house that, when toggled, turn on and off lights without any batteries or matches!

There are these metal pipe things which bring water into the building itself. It comes out a shower! Not only that, but there are other pipes which take dirty water away from the toilet in our house. Granted, most wastewater eventually empties untreated into the river not far from here but at least it is not collected in a cesspool outside the concession wall for children to play in (they only have donkey poop to throw at each other, dommage).

We have a bed that is not made of bamboo, a table with chairs and a sofa. We have tiles on our floor instead of concrete and paving stones. We have fans to move the swelteringly hot air around and dry our sweat. We get the BBC on the radio, so we know a little about what happens in the world. We even have (want can only be called) an easy bake oven. Best of all, we have a little refrigerator for cold water!

Work life is different in Bamako. We hesitate to describe it because it still is not that interesting for the American reader. Suffice it to say that it exists, which is a big step up from village. While the village life was relaxing and culturally enriching it could also be torturously slow. We would often reach our limit of reading books and playing with children but the only alternative was often staring off at the horizon for hours on end. In the city the time passes faster, which is good.

We have done so many things in town that we never had the opportunity to do out on the edge of the desert. We’ve swum in pools, we’ve gone to soccer matches in stadiums, we’ve been to concerts performed by famous Malians, we meet friends once a week for drinks, we eat chicken! We are no longer out at the end of a seldom-traveled spoke of a desolate wheel but at the hub of the country, so we see people a lot more. Time goes fast enough that we actually have to manage it!

And time runs short these days. It is hard to believe that we are in single digits for months left in Mali. By way of clarification, Peace Corps is a two year service after swearing-in (front row, with shades). This means that that count only began when training finished, two months after our arrival. Those of you who expected us back in July will be surprised to hear that our technical last day of service is September 11th, 2010. That is not when we arrive home, however, as we will likely travel around for an undetermined time. Not to mention that due to administrative constraints that day could be a month before or a month later, nor is it including any extensions past that or early end dates for which might possibly be applied. Is that clear enough?

So, while we really have no idea when we will be home to the States, you will be happy to know that this place has become an acceptable home in the meantime.

(Its a sweet pad, Avril is always hangin' out at our place...)